As Indiana’s tech community continues to grow and mature, it’s getting harder and harder to narrow down the winners for our annual Tech 25 Awards program. There is a wealth of tech talent in the Hoosier state, and they are making incredible moves. Join us in celebrating the Tech 25 class of 2021 through this profile series and learn a bit more about each winner.

Kat Gordon is the head of customer success at Malomo, where she leads a talented team of success managers and implementation specialists to define and execute a world-class implementation, support, and customer success strategy.

Before Malomo, Kat discovered her passion for customer experience as a hotel inspector and restaurant critic throughout North America. This experience compelled her to start a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business specializing in curated cocktail kits, which became a national market leader and was successfully acquired in 2018. She was nominated as part of High Alpha’s inaugural Emerging Leaders Class of 2020 and currently mentors fellow entrepreneurs in the Indianapolis community.

What led you to the tech industry and this occupation? What was your first job in tech?

Joining Malomo was my first official position in the tech industry. As an e-commerce entrepreneur, I had firsthand experience with how tech companies could enable non-technical users to truly take control of all aspects of running a business.

Once my e-commerce business was acquired, I wanted to stay within the e-commerce industry in Indianapolis, but make the transition to a tech solution. When I found Malomo, I was excited to help customers with the very issues I struggled with while running my own business.

When you think of a day in your life, what are the main work activities you do or responsibilities you have?

I strategize and optimize the customer journey, from a high-touch implementation program to ongoing relationship building with success and support teams. I also hit aggressive onboarding, retention, and product adoption goals, and build, mentor, and lead the success, support, and implementation teams. I’m a voice of customer advocacy to the product team to guide current and future feature releases.

What resources would you recommend to those who want to learn more or advance their skills in this occupation?

Reach out to local CS professionals in Indianapolis at companies that align with your career goals—CS departments can be quite different across various companies. Still, almost all CS professionals I’ve met are willing and happy to talk about their departments, career path, and offer advice. Other resources I recommend include:

Kat Gordon is a Tech 25 winner who is helping to grow and improve the tech landscape of Indiana. She was nominated by her CEO, Yaw Aning.

Visit the Indianapolis Business Journal website to see the full listing and celebration of the 2021 Tech 25 honorees in the joint CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards supplement. You can also watch a video of the livestream from the CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards virtual event.

Read more coverage of the Tech 25 in this Index Feature Story and view and tag the gallery of photos from the event on Facebook.